REMEMBER Trevor Homer! That has become a familiar warning to those who would presume to rate the prospects of leading amateurs joining professional ranks. The topic is particularly relevant to a time when no fewer than three young Irishmen - Francis Howley, Padraig Harrington and David Higgins - are preparing for their first season on the PGA European Tour.
In South Africa, there are similarly cautionary tales about one of their finest youngsters, Bobby Cole, who, at 11 st 11 lbs, was rated the game's longest hitter, pound for pound, by no less a figure than Gary Player. Though somewhat more successful than Homer, his professional career was also bitterly disappointing.
Homer, who was born in Bloxwich, England, in 1943, won the British Amateur Championship in 1972 and 1974. With those impressive credentials, along with appearances in the 1972 Eisenhower Trophy and 1973 Walker Cup, he turned professional in July 1974. But in the 1975 and `76 seasons, his total earnings came to less than £1,000 against an outlay of £20,000 in expenses. He was reinstated as an amateur in 1978.
According to Peter Alliss: "His action was suspect in that he hit too much with arms and hands and made little use of body and legs. Using a fade which served him well as an amateur, he lacked the necessary length and consistency for the professional game. The big ball also found him out.
Cole's background was remarkably similar to that of compatriot Ernie Els. At 15, he was South African junior champion and winner of the Transvaal amateur title. At only 18 years and one month, he equalled the record as the youngest winner of the British Amateur Championship, at Carnoustie. And the following spring, he became the youngest player, amateur or professional, to survive the halfway cut in the US Masters. He then went on to finish first in the USPGA Tour Qualifying School.
He was the individual winner when South Africa captured the World Cup in 1974, but in the 28 years from 1968 to the present, Cole was only once higher than 50th in the US money list, in 1974 when he was 43rd. His lone victory was in the 1977 Buick Open, after which his career went into rapid decline. But he was more fortunate in love insofar as he married the glamorous, leading woman professional, Laura Baugh, in 1980 and they have five children.
If desire and hard work guaranteed success, Vijay Singh would top the money lists every year. But golf gurus still make fortunes, analysing technique and pronouncing on why some brilliant amateurs fail to make the grade, while seemingly less talented brethern achieve success. There are no simple answers, other than the obvious fact that the challenge is as much mental as physical.
Come to think of it, unpredictability is part of golfs enduring appeal.
JUDGING from correspondence over the years, it seems that the Irish are regular competitors at the Karen GC in Nairobi, Kenya That is the splendid establishment named after the Danish writer Karen Blixen, on whose life the movie "Out of Africa" was based.
The latest Karen communication is from Dubliner John Curran, who is on secondment in Kenya. According to his letter, he noticed after a recent game there that one of his playing partners, Tom Goggin, born in Cork but living for many years in the UK, was wearing a blue tie with the Roman numerals ii, 111, IV, V printed vertically thereon. "I immediately knew what it referred to but was unaware of Tom's part in the story," Curran wrote.
He continued: "Tom was off four handicap when he played in a certain fourball in 1965. On Karen's 15th hole, a par five index eight, one partner had a par, the second a birdie, and the third had an eagle three. But all were surpassed by Tom who had an albatross two. Thereafter, it became known as the two- three-four-five hole.
"There is a follow-up to the story. On December 21st, Tom played in Karen's weekly ~~~~`Clubnite' nine-hole competition, held every Thursday. Again in a fourball and at the same par five, his playing partners had a bogey, a par and a birdie. Not to be outdone, Tom proceeded to eagle the hole.
"So, exactly 30 years after the famous two, three, four, five at the 15th, scores of three, four, five, six, were returned, with the lowest being carded by the same player. Perhaps the poorer scores could be attributed to the passing years but it remained a remarkable achievement and an amazing coincidence."
THE tail-end of the festive season has been brightened Appreciably by an hilarious item from Mullingar's Michael Duffy, a regular correspondent to this column. It concerns the golfing activities of Al Capone, as outlined by Laurence Bergreen in his biography of the notorious gangster.
Gangsters, we are informed, played golf like no other people. All wore hip flasks which clinked with every step. And they drank as they went, so that by the time they approached the ninth hole, the mood was uproarious, prompting them to engage in various, playful activities.
Among these was a game called Blind Robin whereby one of the men reclined on the grass, stuck his face in the air, balanced the golf ball on his chin, shut his eyes and prayed as the others teed off. But when it was Capone's turn to serve as a human tee, the boys prudently put away their drivers and used a putter, swung ever so gently, lest they leave further marks on the well-scarred face.
Capone's Irish caddie, Tim Sullivan, began cheating to help his boss. He recalled: "I would keep a couple of extra balls in my pants pocket, drop one near the spot where his disappeared and pretend I'd found it. He caught on pretty quick but just laughed and said - "you're OK Kid." Interestingly, Capone flatly rejected Sullivan's pleas to join the mob, telling the caddie: "Nothing doing Kid. I want you around a long time, all in one piece. You might get hurt. Most guys in my line of business do." Surely a golfer who loved his caddie couldn't be all bad?
Either way, it appears that the gangster's enthusiasm for golf was not matched by skill. Sullivan recalled: "I don't think he ever broke 60 for nine holes. He drove the ball half a mile but always hooked it. And he couldn't putt for beans." Still, it wasn't unusual to have fourballs at $10,000 a side.
Naturally, guns were carried onto the links, very much to Capone's cost, on one celebrated occasion. During a game with Johnny Patton, the so-called Boy Mayor, Capone casually picked up his golf bag whereupon the .45-calibre revolver concealed within, went off. Wounded, he shrieked in agony, which was hardly surprising, given the Chicago Tribune report that: "The bullet ploughed down through the fleshy part of his right leg, narrowly missed the abdomen and then embedded itself in his left leg."
The removal of the bullet led to Capone registering under the name of Geary in the local hospital where he took a suite of five rooms, one reserved for his use, the others occupied by his round-the-clock bodyguards. Within a week, he was discharged and immediately returned to the golf course. But in the meantime, the boys "double-checked to make sure the safety catch was on before they deposited any gun in a golf bag." Clever boys!
IN BRIEF: Ever experienced the Big Bunker Blues? Or been forced to concede that golf is breaking your heart? You have. Then "Songs for Swinging Golfers" should be just up your fairway, in a manner of speaking. The tape contains l2 golfing songs composed by professional Bill Brampton: splendid fare for the captain's dinner Jose-Maria Olazabal will be making a return to competitive golf in the $900,000 Heineken Classic in Perth from February 1st to 4th. It will constitute an Australian debut for the 1994 US Masters champion who missed the Ryder Cup because of a damaged foot Age Action Ireland inform me that Philomena Garvey has donated an award for women competitors in this year's Christy O'Connor Perpetual Trophy. The grand final is scheduled for Luttrellstown GC on September 20th.
TEASER: A's ball is on the apron between the green and a bunker. A's partner, opponent or fellow-competitor (B) plays from the bunker and deposits sand on and round Ads ball. Is A entitled to any relief?
ANSWER: Yes. A is entitled to the lie and line of play he had when his ball came to rest. Accordingly, in equity (Rule 1-4), he is entitled to remove the sand deposited by B's stroke and lift his ball and clean it, without penalty.
